Letter: Change of climate happens with vote

To the editor

Published
10:11 pm EDT, Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Here's a hypothetical: What if almost every scientist agreed that using a certain product would increase the chance of our children and grandchildren suffering from more episodes of serious illness and more avoidable deaths? Would we buy products with safer ingredients, especially if they worked just as well? I'm sure we would.

Here's a reality: Doctors know that heat waves are the deadliest outcomes of climate change, worse even than major hurricanes. Excessive heat undermines the health of young children, the elderly and people with heart or respiratory conditions. It's not even uncommon for fit young athletes to collapse from heat prostration.

Climate scientists expect that record-breaking heat waves will be 10 times more likely to affect Albany residents in 30 years and 40 times more likely by 2100, if we keep using fossil fuels at the current rate. Research shows that, historically, deaths increase nearly 4 percent during heat waves and are apt to be even more frequent in the Northeast, compared to other regions, when heat arrives earlier than usual and lasts for more than two days.

We can protect our children and grandchildren if we quickly replace fossil fuels that increase the probability of heat waves with nonpolluting renewable power. Respected voices across the political spectrum now support market-based policies that will speed that transition without hurting the economy or overburdening people with lower incomes.

Ask candidates in the current election season what policies they'll support to reduce the risks of climate change.